Ear protector



.Jam 15, 1952 K. KAUFMANN EAR PROTECTOR Filed Feb. 12, 1948 JNVENToR. Karl Kaufmann Patented Jan. 15, 1952 EAR. PROTECTOR Karl Kaufmann, Hofstatt Bel Neulengbach, Austria, assignor of one-fourth to Carl Holub, Cincinnati, Ohio Application February 12, 1948, Serial No. 7,975 In Austria January 28, 1946 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires January 28, 1966 1 Claim.

rThis invention relates to ear protectors, such as earmu'ffs.

An object of the invention is to provide an ear protector which can be worn on the ear without the use of holding straps or spring members.

A further object of the invention is to providean ear protector which is securely held on the ear without the assistance of any spring means as the result of such a shape of the inner edge of an inner wall of the ear protector that for putting on the ear protector it must be placed upon the ear in a position which is different from the wearing position and then be turned into the wearing position.

The ear protector according to the invention is of pocket-like character having an outside wall and secured thereto an inside wall in the form of a flat plate of essentially rigid material between which two walls, when the ear protector is in use, the ear to be protected is enclosed. This inside Wall has an uninterrupted outer edge and an inner edge shaped so as to substantially t the ear root when the ear protector is in wearing position on the ear.

In the accompanying drawing which, by way of example, shows one embodiment of the invention as a protector against cold:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, Fig. 2 a back elevation, and Fig. 3 a central vertical section of an ear protector, such as an earmuif.

Secured to one side of a closed oval frame c formed by the uninterrupted outer edge of a flat plate a of rigid material, such as cardboard or the like, is a full wall b made of a material having poor heat conduction characteristics, preferably fabric. This Wall b which, when the ear muli is in use, is situated at the outside of the ear, forms together with the ilat plate or diaphragm a a pocket adapted to accommodate the ear conch. The inner edge of the diaphragm a has a shape which corresponds to the shape of the ear root so as to delimit a substantially oval opening e. As will be realized from Fig. 2, which illustrates an ear protector for a right ear, it would not be possible to put the ear protector on the ear conch in the position shown in Fig. 2, which is the wearing position. However, the longitudinal dimension of the substantially oval opening e of the diaphragm a is chosen so as to correspond approximately to the width of the ear conch,

and by slipping the ear protector in horizontal position (which differs from the position shown in Fig. 2 by 90) onto the upper edge of the ear conch and then turning the protector back through a quarter turn to bring it into the Wearing position shown in Fig. 2, the ear protector can be properly applied to the ear. When so applied, the whole ear conch is situated behind the iiat plate a Without the conch being subjected to annoying pressure or to a tension which might impede the blood circulation.

The outer edges of the flat plate a and the wall b are preferably faced with a` band or ribbon d.

What I claim is:

A pocket-like ear protector, comprising an outside wall adapted to cover the conch of an ear at the front side thereof in the wearing position of the ear protector and an inside wall for covering the rear side of said conch, said inside wall being in the form of an essentially rigid flat plate having an uninterrupted outer edge, a marginal portion of said outside wall being secured to said inside wall along said uninterrupted outer edge of the latter, and said inside wall having an inner edge shaped substantially in the form of an oval whose long axis is of a length which is sub-- stantially smaller than the heighth of the ear conch and approximately equal to the width of said conch which necessitates placing the ear protector upon the upper portion of the ear conch in a position approximately at right angles to the wearing position, said oval substantially fitting the ear root when the ear protector is turned from said rst named position into its wearing position.

KARL KAUFMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in 'the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,325,150 Sahlmann July 27, 1943 2,378,398 Fielder June 19, 1945 2,396,113 Motley Mar. 5, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 532,613 Great Britain Jan. 28, 1941 

